Sabres have 8 players with 8 or more points, will face Holy Angels, Cathedral and Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato in 8-team round-robin tournament at Municipal Athletic Complex

The Sartell boys hockey practice works on a defensive zone drill during practice Tuesday at Bernick's Arena in Sartell. The Sabres are 6-2 and ranked No. 8 in Class 1A.(Photo: Mick Hatten, mhatten@stcloudtimes.com)

There is not a clear-cut upperclassman who is an NCAA Division I recruit. There is not a player within 17 points of a state leader and neither goalie has a save percentage in the top 45 in the state.

But with a 6-2 record, the Sartell boys hockey team sits at No. 8 in the latest Class 1A state rankings.

"Our biggest strength is definitely our team speed," said senior defenseman Jonathan Kirchner, who is in his third varsity season. "We're most successful when we play fast and we're all over teams. A lot of teams in the offensive zone can't play with us down low."

Sartell boys hockey coach Ryan Hacker talks to his team near the boards during practice Tuesday at Bernick's Arena in Sartell. The Sabres play this weekend in the Granite City Classic at the Municipal Athletic Complex.(Photo: Mick Hatten, mhatten@stcloudtimes.com)

Sartell has seven players with four goals or more and eight players with eight or more points.

"Our depth is a huge strength for us," Sartell coach Ryan Hacker said. "We feel comfortable putting any of the three lines and any of the five (defensemen) that have been playing out against anyone else.

"We lost (defenseman) Spencer Meier, who had played a huge role for us for four years" to graduation, Hacker said of the St. Cloud State recruit who is playing junior hockey for the Fargo Force this season.

"But our 'D' depth might be a little better than it has been in past years, even with losing a guy like Spencer. These five guys are stepping in and doing what they have to do."

Jonathan Kirchner(Photo: Courtesy of Sartell High School)

The five defensemen are Kirchner and juniors Cameron Cromwell, Connor Kalthoff, Austin Adelman and Brock Boerger.

"We felt like we were going to be a pretty solid team," Kirchner said. "I kind of like being the underdog, kind of coming out of nowhere."

The Sabres are likely to get some good tests this weekend in the Granite City Classic, a round-robin tournament which will be held Thursday through Saturday at the Municipal Athletic Complex. Sartell plays Holy Angels (3-4-1) on Thursday, No. 6 St. Cloud Cathedral (7-2) on Friday and Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato (5-3) on Saturday.

"We just want to get better and maybe come away with some wins," junior forward Jack Hennemann said. "We just want to play our hockey and it doesn't matter who we play. If we play the best we can and move our feet, we'll see what happens."

"The kids are pretty unselfish and, one night, you can have one line scoring all the goals and the next night it's another line," Sartell coach Ryan Hacker said. "Nobody is getting jealous and it's about whatever is best for the team and that's what makes it so great working with these guys."

"With these three games this weekend, we'll split (playing time) again," Hacker said of his goaltending. "They know that they're competing with one another. At the same time, they're the No. 1 fan of the other one when they're on the bench. When practice comes, they know it's a battle every day and we're watching and evaluating."

That theme has helped Sartell shoot into the state rankings and to be one of the teams to watch in Section 6A.

"We believed in ourselves and we knew that not many other people had high expectations for us," Hennemann said of the preseason. "We kept that to ourselves and just kept working."

Follow Mick Hatten on Twitter, Instagram @MickHatten and at Facebook.com/sctimesmick. Reach him by phone at 259-3621, by email at mhatten@stcloudtimes.com.